Abstract
Gold deposits in Costa Rica are found in lavas and pyroclastic rocks in volcanic arcs ranging in age from Miocene to the present. Although the arcs and some individual volcanos vary widely in alkalinity and other compositional parameters, there seems to be no close relationship between composition and associated type of epithermal precious-metal deposits.
Two deposit types are known: (1) Sado-type epithermal veins (Bellavista-Montezuma, Esperanza de Líbano, Sacrafamilia district, Juntas district), similar to deposits found in volcanic arcs in the Cascades and in Japan, and (2) hot-spring type deposits (Cañamazo, Beta Vargas, Santa Clara?), similar to large, low-grade deposits found in near-surface environments such as those in western North America. The Sado-type deposits are epithermal quartz veins and related stockworks that contain gold closely associated with pyrite. The hot-spring deposits are near-paleosurface deposits that consist primarily of stockworks of chalcedonic quartz and pyrite. The veins commonly contain minor galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite. Both deposit types contain anomalous amounts of arsenic, antimony, and, in some cases, mercury. In addition, auriferous stockworks commonly surround subvolcanic rhyolite intrusions, but none have been shown to contain substantial ore-grade material.
Conceptual models for undiscovered deposits include the following:
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1.
Hot-spring deposits may be present in a geochemically anomalous area near Ciudad Quesada.
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2.
Deposits associated with alkaline volcanic rocks, similar to those at Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea, may be present on the Atlantic Slope.
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3.
Large areas of Tertiary and Quaternary volcanic rocks to the southeast of the traditional gold belt are permissive for Sadotype veins. Also in the southeast, gold-bearing skarns are possibly present where Tertiary plutons intrude carbonate strata.
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4.
Recent studies suggest the possibility for gold deposition related to acid, summit-caldera lakes in stratovolcanos. Independent regional geochemical studies are consistent with this possibility.
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© 1995 Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources
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Ludington, S., Bagby, W.C. (1995). The Outlook for Volcanic-Hosted Gold Deposits in the Republic of Costa Rica. In: Miller, R.L., Escalante, G., Reinemund, J.A., Bergin, M.J. (eds) Energy and Mineral Potential of the Central American-Caribbean Region. Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Science Series, vol 16. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79476-6_39
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